Yellowknife 2007 - Short Courses

Short Courses

SC-3 - Application of till and stream sediment heavy mineral and geochemical methods to mineral exploration in western and northern Canada

Organizers: Roger Paulen (Alberta Geological Survey) and Isabelle McMartin (GSC)

Length: 1 day (May 22, 2007)
GAC-MAC Full Member: $235
GAC-MAC Student Member: $100
GAC-MAC Non-member: $300

Location: Yellowknife Inn: Garnet Room

Mineral exploration in western and northern Canada requires an appreciation and understanding of glacial processes, surficial sediments, and glacial history. This course will focus on the application of indicator mineral and geochemical methods to mineral exploration in western and northern Canada. An overview of glacial processes and sampling techniques will be presented followed by reviews of indicator mineral methods used for diamond and gold exploration. Several case studies, both by leading Canadian researchers and the exploration industry will also be presented. A published volume is anticipated to result from this short course.

Course Schedule:

8:00 – 8:10		Introductory remarks (chairs)
8:10 – 9:00		Keynote Address: Deciphering ore dispersal in complex glaciated terrain (Ralph Stea)
9:00 – 9:40		Ice-flow indicators and the importance of ice-flow mapping (Isabelle McMartin and Roger Paulen)
9:40 – 10:10		Geochemical and Mineralogical Dispersion Models in Till: Physical Process Constraints and Impacts on Geochemical Exploration Interpretation (Cliff Stanley and Holger Teismann)
10:10 – 10:30		Near surface till sampling protocols in shield terrain, with examples from western and northern Canada. (Isabelle McMartin and Janet Campbell)
10:30 – 10:50		Coffee
10:50 – 11:10		Sampling techniques in western Canada and the Cordillera (Roger Paulen)
11:10 – 11:35		Stream sediment sampling and geochemistry in the Cordillera (Ray Lett)
11:35 – 12:00		Stream sediment sampling in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (Glen Prior, Martin McCurdy, Peter Friske)
12:00 – 1:30		Lunch
1:30 – 1:50		Quality control in indicator mineral sampling and processing (David Hozjan and Stu Averill)
1:50 – 2:10		Case Study #1: Drift Prospecting for Uranium in the Athabasca Basin (Janet Campbell)
2:10 – 2:40		Case Study #2: Till composition along the Mediadine Trend near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut: applications to gold exploration in permafrost terrain.
2:40 – 3:00		Case Study #3: Tracing Kimberlite Indicator Mineral Dispersal Trains: An example from the Churchill Diamond Project, Kivalliq region, Nunavut (Pam Strand, Shear Minerals and Jennifer Burgess, Burgess Diamonds Ltd.)
3:00 – 3:20		Coffee
3:20 – 3:40		Case Study #4: Glacial heavy mineral sampling and kimberlite discovery in the Northern Slave Province, Nunavut (Tom McCandless, Ashton Mining of Canada Ltd.)
3:40 – 4:00		Case Study #5: The influence of ice-flow reversals on the vertical and horizontal distribution of trace element values in tills, Huckleberry Mine area, west-central British Columbia (Travis Ferbey and Vic Levson, BCMEMPR)
4:00 – 4:20		Case Study #6: Drift prospecting in northern Alberta – a unique glacial terrain for exploration (Roger Paulen)
4:20 – 4:40		Kimberlite and Ni-Cu-PGE indicators - similarities and differences (Stu Averill)
4:40 - 5:00		Summary: Overview of indicator mineral methods in mineral exploration (Harvey Thorleifson)
5:00 - 5:20		Discussion and Closing remarks (chairs)

Course Notes - Table of Contents:

Edited by Roger C. Paulen and Isabelle McMartin

Introduction

R. Paulen and I. McMartin: Mineral exploration in the glaciated terrain of western and northern Canada.

Ice flow and glacial dispersion

R. Stea: Deciphering ore dispersal in complex glaciated terrain.

I. McMartin and R. Paulen: Ice-flow indicators and the importance of ice-flow mapping.

Till sampling techniques

R. Paulen and A. Plouffe: Sampling techniques in western Canada and the Cordillera.

I. McMartin and J. Campbell: Sampling protocol in regions of discontinuous and continuous permafrost.

Stream sediments

R. Lett: Stream sediment sampling and geochemistry in the Cordillera.

G. Prior, M. McCurdy, P. Friske: Stream sediment sampling in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.

Heavy Minerals

S. Averill: Kimberlite and Ni-Cu-PGE indicators - similarities and differences.

D. Hozian, G. Prior, R. Paulen and S. Averill: Quality control in indicator mineral sampling and processing.

Case Histories I – Diamonds

I. McMartin and L. Dredge: Glacial dispersal research in Keewatin.

P. Strand and J. Burgess: Tracing Kimberlite Indicator Mineral Dispersal Trains: An example from the Churchill Diamond Project, Kivalliq region, Nunavut.

T. McCandless: Glacial heavy mineral sampling and kimberlite discovery in the Northern Slave Province, Nunavut.

Case Histories II – Gold, Base Metals and Uranium

Clifford Stanley: Geochemical and Mineralogical Dispersion Models in Till: Physical Process Constraints and Impacts on Geochemical Exploration Interpretation (Cliff Stanley and Holger Teismann, Acadia University)

T. Ferbey and V. Levson: The influence of ice-flow reversals on the vertical and horizontal distribution of trace element values in tills, Huckleberry Mine area, west-central British Columbia

R. Paulen: Drift prospecting in northern Alberta – a unique glacial terrain for exploration.

J. Campbell: Drift Prospecting for Uranium in the Athabasca Basin.

Summary

H. Thorleifson: Overview of indicator mineral methods in mineral exploration, what lies ahead?

Sponsored by Shear Minerals, Ltd., Overburden Drilling Management Limited and Apex Geoscience, Ltd.

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